Olivia Wilde Shares the Moving Inspiration Behind Her Company

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Olivia Wilde Shares the Moving Inspiration Behind Her Company

Actress and activist Olivia Wilde penned a thoughtful piece on her experience in Haiti, sharing the mission of her company, Conscious Commerce, in the Spring issue of Darling Magazine. With an emphasis on shopping with a conscience, Olivia and Barbara Burchfield started the company to highlight ethically run businesses and locally run brands, selecting products for customers to buy so that they could spend money for a good cause. In the article, Olivia explains, "Rather than beg people to donate the change left over after a Christmas shopping spree, we wondered how impactful it would be to divert some of the cash they were already spending toward carefully vetted nonprofits." Along with shopping links, the Conscious Commerce site also features people who are making a positive impact. The inspiration for their work? An eye-opening experience in Haiti, according to Olivia:

"We stood next to each other, cigarettes dangling from our mouths, rum burning our throats, hazmat suits covering everything but our sweaty faces, clutching a handful of rosaries each. We were aware of the unlikelihood of the moment — two white American girls working to bag bodies in a morgue — but this was Haiti, and we had come to expect the darkly unexpected. We were among a group of local volunteers who made this gruesome journey weekly, giving a dignified burial to the city's discarded poor. The cigarettes were to mask the retched smell, the rum to ease the shock."

The soon-to-be mom is no stranger to speaking out for causes important to her. Last year, she teamed up with Matt Damon for a Water.org PSA to protest the lack of access to clean water for billions of people, and she also stepped out alongside Emma Stone for Revlon's EIF Run/Walk For Women as an ambassador for the brand. Keep reading for more excerpts from Olivia's Darling Magazine piece, including quotes about what drives her and what gives her life meaning.